Group files ethics complaint over Gohmert parking ticket

3/28/13 12:49 PM EDT

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint Thursday with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Rep. Louie Gohmert for his late-night verbal altercation with the U.S. Park Police.

POLITICO reported that the Texas Republican was issued a parking ticket near the Lincoln Memorial earlier this month. Gohmert then argued with officers that his congressional placard allows him to park in the space marked for only National Park Service vehicles, and said he’s on the House Natural Resources Committee that oversees the agency.

Gohmert took the ticket off his windshield and placed it on a police car along with his business card with a written message: “Oversight of Park Service is my job! Natural Resources Thus the Congressional Plate in window.”

Gohmert’s office said the congressman was taking his stepsister and her husband to the memorial, and the officer later accepted the ticket back and apologized. The police report obtained by POLITICO, which includes statements from three officers, makes no mention of apologizing to Gohmert or what happened to the parking violation.

“By abusing his position as a member of Congress to yell at police officers and try and get out of a parking ticket, Rep. Gohmert engaged in conduct that reflects discreditably upon the House,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan in a statement. “No wonder the public prefers cockroaches to members of Congress.”